The colourful rainbow of veganism

Very often people say to me that they wish they could adapt a vegan lifestyle, that they really want to be vegan, they tried but there are just too many things in their every day life that somehow makes it hard. You go out to eat at a restaurant and that yummy cheesy pizza seems so much more tempting than a dry pizza with some chopped veggies and tomato sauce on top. 

And I get it - I really do. I always say to them that I don't blame them, that it is a transition, a new lifestyle to learn. I've been there myself. In the beginning of my vegan journey, when I first decided that I was going to be vegan I went through some rough times, I didn't always want to be that annoying person who had to have special ingredients when I got invited to dinner parties or went out to eat at a restaurant. I beat myself up for buying shoes without even thinking about that they had leather soles and felt so stupid when I realized it several weeks afterwards.

The trouble seems to be what we put into the word vegan. It seems that many people thinks it has to be this hardcore lifestyle, they think they have to take the whole vegan package - where you have to look a certain way, avoid yummy easy-to-find food, start to read ingredient lists of EVERYTHING and stop shopping at your favorite clothing store etc. I think this is why veganism can seem off putting, it seems harder from the outside than what it really is.

I just read this brilliant blog post "10 Ways to be vegan: the options for veganism", which shows the many different ways you can choose to be a vegan in. Veganism is really a rainbow and I think it's really important to not be so hard on yourself. Not many people can be 100% vegan in today's city life society. So what if you're a weekday vegan, or a Paris vegan or a travel vegan today? Maybe it is a learning curve you have to go through in the school of Veganism.

What kind of vegan are you?

I'm not usually a big fan of categorising though and I know that many vegans would be very annoyed if someone called themself a vegan and then went and ate a chicken on a Friday night to "treat themselves" (yes, I'm one of the vegans that would get very annoyed about this). Point is, it is way better doing your best and at least give veganism a chance before you totally dismiss it.